The influence of activity choice on problem behaviors maintained by escape versus attention

This study assessed whether the function of an individual's problem behavior was related to the effectiveness of an intervention involving choice among tasks. Analogue functional analyses were conducted with 7 students with various diagnoses to determine whether problem behaviors were maintained by escape or attention. Following identification of the function of each student's problem behavior, reversal designs were used to assess the effectiveness of an intervention that allowed the students to choose their own instructional tasks. Results showed that students who displayed escape-maintained problem behavior showed substantial reductions in such behavior when they were provided with opportunities to choose among tasks. On the other hand, students who displayed attention-maintained problem behavior did not show any effects as a result of the choice intervention. These findings are discussed in terms of the effective use of behavior management programs involving choice and the reduction of problem behavior.     

Hemispheric dissociation of the involvement of NOS isoforms in memory for discriminated avoidance in the chick

Previous research has indicated a role for both the neuronal (nNOS) and endothelial (eNOS) nitric oxide isoforms in memory formation. In addition, two distinct periods of activity of nitric oxide activity, dissociated by hemispheric localization, are implicated following passive avoidance training in the chick. In the present study, we trained black Australorp-white Leghorn chicks on a color discrimination avoidance task. Diphenyleneiodonium chloride (1 microM) or N-propyl-l-arginine (50 microM) was administered into either the left or right hemisphere of the chick brain in an attempt to differentiate the effects of inhibiting eNOS or nNOS, respectively. The memory loss previously observed following administration of diphenyleneiodonium chloride between 10 and 20 min posttraining was found to be lateralized to the right hemisphere, although administration of this agent into the left hemisphere around the time of training was also amnestic. In contrast, N-propyl-l-arginine caused memory loss only when administered to the left hemisphere around the time of training. These findings suggest that activation of both eNOS and nNOS isoforms may be essential for long-term memory consolidation of this task. Further, these two periods of activity are defined temporally and by hemisphere localization, although confirmation with more selective inhibitors when they become available is advised.     

Do you see what I see? Testing horses’ ability to recognise real-life objects from 2D computer projections

Animal Cognition - The use of 2-dimensional representations (e.g. photographs or digital images) of real-life physical objects has been an important tool in studies of animal cognition. Horses are...     

Who needs control? A cultural perspective on the process of compensatory control

Compensatory control theory (CCT) provides a framework for understanding the mechanisms at play when one's personal control is challenged. The model suggests that believing the world is a structured and predictable place is fundamental, insofar as it provides the foundation upon which people can believe they are able to exert control over their environment and act agentically towards goals. Because of this, CCT suggests, when personal control is threatened people try to reaffirm the more foundational belief in structure/predictability in the world, so that they then have a strong foundation to reestablish feelings of personal control and pursue their goals. This review seeks to understand how the basic assumptions of these compensatory control processes unfold in different cultural contexts. Drawing on research and theorizing from cultural psychology, we propose that cultural models of self and agency, culturally prevalent modes of control, and culture-specific motivations all have implications for compensatory control processes. Culture determines, in part, whether or not personal control deprivation is experienced as a threat to perceiving an orderly world, how/whether individuals respond to low personal control, and the function that responses to restore a sense of order in the world serve. A theoretical model of compensatory control processes across cultures is proposed that has implications for how people cope with a wide range of personal and societal events that potentially threaten their personal control.     

Sex differences in route learning by children.

Differences between men and women have been reported with respect to route-learning, but sex differences in children on these and related tasks have not been found. In this study, 51 children ages 5 to 12 years were required to learn a route on a map to criterion and then asked to recall landmarks on that route. Boys made significantly fewer errors and took less time and fewer trials to reach criterion in learning the route, and girls recalled more landmarks than boys. Significant main effects for age were also noted on all measures of route learning and landmark recall. These results suggest that the patterns of route learning that have been ascribed to women and men are present in girls and boys.     

Why You Can't Kick the Bucket as You Slowly Die: Verbs in Idiom Comprehension

Idiomatic phrases differ in their degree of analyzability. Some idioms are highly decomposable with their parts independently contributing to their overall figurative meaning (e.g. pop the question) while other idioms are nondecomposable with parts that do not contribute to their idiomatic meaning (e.g. kick the bucket). Nonetheless, even the parts of nondecomposable idioms might have a role in determining what they specifically mean. For example, the verb kick, in kick the bucket implies a quickness or suddenness to the death such that kick the bucket means to die suddenly rather than to die slowly. We report the findings of three experiments showing, in different ways, how the action of the verb contributes to the overall figurative meaning for some nondecomposable idioms. Together, these studies suggest that even nondecomposable idioms are not truly frozen as, at least, part of their overall figurative meanings are shaped by the particular verbs used in these phrases.     

The structure ofAND coordinations in children's narratives

Narratives of 3 1/2-to 9 1/2-year-old children were searched for AND coordinations. Only half of the AND utterances of the youngest compared to four-fifths of those of the oldest children were fully formed, syntactically correct coordinations. The latter were classified as phrasal coordinations, redundant sententials (i.e., potential phrasals), or nonredundant sentential coordinations. Sentential coordinations predominated, especially among older children. Direction of redundancy (or potential redundancy) was important: forward forms predominated over backward forms. Differences in form of the children's coordinations often reflected differences in meaning; this was true for backward direction forms of phrasal versus sentential coordination, although not for most forward direction forms.The authors would like to thank Michael Bruce-Lockhart for the development and use of the NARRAN software package. For more information about NARRAN or its availability, write to the first author. This research was supported by National Science and Engineering Research Council grant A-0513 to the first author.     

Processing idioms with multiple meanings

Three experiments are presented that examine understanding of idioms with one or more meaning. The results of Experiment 1 showed that subjects took longer to read and make paraphrase judgments for idioms when both their idiomatic and literal meanings are intended than it did to comprehend idioms meant only literally or idiomatically. In Experiments 2 and 3, subjects were faster at making phrase classification judgments for idioms with several different nonliteral interpretations than they were to make the same judgments for idioms with only one idiomatic interpretation. These findings suggest that idioms with more entries in the mental lexicon are accessed faster because it is more likely that one of their meanings will be encountered in a short time. The data overall support the idea that idioms are represented differently depending on their number of associated meanings.This research was supported by a Faculty Research Grant from the University of California, Santa Cruz. We wish to thank Dennis Johnston for his assistance in running subjects.     

The Cognitive, Learned-Helplessness and Hopelessness Theories of Depression: A Review with Implications for Counsellors

Four theories of depression and the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) are described and their implications for counselling discussed. Recent research has focused upon the testing of the diathesis-stress component of the reformulated learned-helplessness theory of depression, and in particular upon the role which a hypothesised depressogenic causal attributional style towards events in general, and/or 'depressive attributions' towards specific events, play in the development of depression. It is suggested that the recently revised version of this theory — the hopelessness theory of depression — is both a more fruitful area of future research and of more interest to the counsellor, since it emphasises the role which attributions and other cognitive factors play in the maintenance and prevention of depression, rather than concentrating on a continued search for a cause.     

Personal Constructs of Students with Eating Disorders: Implications for Counselling

Members of two self-help groupsfor university andpolytechnic students with eating disorders were asked to generale personal constructs. The analysis of the subsequent grids showed that the students were concerned with similar emotional issues. Il also produceda significant difference between ratings of'self and 'ideal self, butfailed to produce evidence of' tight' construing. Discussion ofthe grids made a positive contribution to the self-help process.